Howard, Don, and J.R.

St Helens, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington. Monday – Tuesday, May 6–7, 2024

Wait, what? Vancouver? I’ve come over 500 miles and I’m still in Vancouver? Of course not. This is Vancouver, Washington.

Old George Vancouver sure got around. This bedroom community of Portland, the bigger city in British Columbia, and the huge island opposite were all named for the good captain. Though lesser known, the one here was founded first.

I was crossing back into Washington over the Columbia to visit an old friend, former colleague and mentor, Howard Graman and his wife Katherine. Howard and I worked together at the University of Vermont Medical Center, then called Given Health Care Center, from 1987 to 1996. Howard was our practice manager, and a real inspiration for me. He was a natural leader, smooth, firm, urbane, and sensitive to (and loved by) his patients. He pioneered a videotaping technique to teach interviewing skills to medical students and residents. Handsome with jet black hair, creative, and always impeccably dressed, he was a kinder version of Don Draper from the series Mad Men. He starred as Bernardo in our local repertory’s version of West Side Story. He was a real inspiration for me, and I loved working with him, but he was headed for bigger things. Recruited by the Cleveland Clinic to establish a primary care facility to complement and support their world-renowned referral center, he went on to be CEO of Cleveland Clinic’s Florida facility, the Carilion Clinic in Roanoke Virginia, and finally Peace Health in the Pacific Northwest, physician-led consortium of more than 600 doctors. His wife Katherine, a nurse and therapist, came to love horses and with each move acquired a larger herd. They settled finally in Vancouver in a lovely home that reminded me a bit of Southfork Ranch in Dallas, which they share with four horses, two donkeys, a parrot, a parakeet, and an adorable little dog named Cabot.

OK, perhaps I’m laying it on a little thick, but Howard and Katherine were like that, glamorous but always down-to-earth and approachable. They graciously hosted me for two nights, and what a respite from those grueling and soggy miles I’d been doing. Great wine, food, conversations and reminiscing, and a bed so luxurious I feared I would never want to leave. These pictures only begin to capture the beauty.

Uh-oh, I’d better get going. The last time I stayed in a place this posh, it was too hard to resume life on the road, I wound up going home.

 Distance 49 miles, 516 total. Time 7 hours with stops. Elevation gain 1489 feet

©️ 2024 Scott Luria